Friday, July 6

Durant gets 18; Sonics lose

Seattle Supersonics rookie Kevin Durant gets his first whiff of the NBA.

Start the Michael Jordan comparisons, because if by classic MJ you mean a guy who's going to put up 20 shots to score 20 points, that's what you saw in Las Vegas tonight. Kevin Durant looked fantastic at times in a 77-66 loss to Dallas in the Las Vegas Summer League.

He put together a beautiful up-and-under move, nailed a fallaway jumper from the baseline, and took it hard to the hoop without any payoff. Overall, he finished 5-of-17 for 18 points, including 7-of-9 from the line. Julius Hodge, alternating between point guard and off guard, was the only other Sonics in double figures, grabbing 14 points and 10 boards in a solid showing.

Sadly, much-beloved Zabian Dowdell was horribly outclassed by Jose Juan Barea, whose name was voted "Most Likely To Be Confused With a Chilean Poet" by his graduating class. Barea went around, between, and seemingly under the Sonics all game, totalling 14 points and 9 assists in about 25 minutes of action. Jeff Green, while he racked up 8 fouls with only 7 points, looked strong on defense at times, but nowhere near as talented as Durant on offense. But then again, how many rookies look as talented as the Promised One?

All in all, it was your typical summer league Turnover-O-Rama, filled with mistakes, fouls, turnovers, and the like. Thankfully, the #2 overall pick seemed to be worthy of the admiration he's been receiving in his nascent NBA career.

17 comments:

Don't feel bad about Dowdell. J.J. is underrated league-wide and is coveted by the Mavs. If Terry or Harris were to be shipped (as has been rumored) J.J. slides into the backup slot with ease. Dowdell will be fine.

I'm not quite as cynical as you, JK -- I'm betting for at least a couple "Durant scores 40, Sonics lose" games next season, and perhaps even a (dare we hope) "Durant scores 60, Sonics swept in 1st round".

Didn't see the game...but,If "Durant scores 60, Sonics swept in 1st round"is best case scenario...well, I'd prefer, "Durant scores 25, dishes 9, Sonics lose game 7," but I guess that's expecting too much?I miss Ray-Ray and Ra for their scoring, yeah, but even more fore their actual credibility for being top-level NBA players. They could've shown KD how to play the game the right way. Right now, he has no choice but to be a ball-hog. Not his fault, but I can't help but think it will hurt his development...

I can see how someone who only saw the boxscore would think that Durant is overhyped - after all he only hit 5 of 17 shots.

But if you watched the game, you know exactly why he gets the hype. He's a 6'10" guy who's got more moves than U-Haul, a guy who can run the court with the point guard on one possession, post up down low the next, hit a fadeaway in the corner the next, then linger out beyond the arc for a 3 the next. It's just unbelievable to watch. Friday night was the first time I had really concentrated on watching Durant in one of his games, and I'm totally on board with all the insanity surrounding him.

Don't take my word for it; the Sonics are on again tonight at 7 pm pacific time. Go to nba.com and watch the game via the internet and you won't be disappointed.